The Missing One
by Animationguy113
Summary: The story follows young rabbit Jenny, the missing one of the batch of six rabbits within Thumper's family ever since her kidnapping by Man from the forest. From there and with her new fellow rabbit companion Drew, she is determined to make it back home to her family. But throughout the journey, while there is friendship and bonding to discover, danger still sits within the shadows.
1. Trouble In Paradise

**Chapter 1: Trouble In Paradise**

November 8, 1950

It was the beginning of winter. The eight rabbits had enough food in stock inside their hole to last them for the rest of the winter. She was happy, no. she was more than happy to be a part of such a great family with her mother, her father, he four sisters and her brother.

"Alright children, it's time for hibernation, you must get some sleep." The mother said.

"But momma, I'm not very tired to go to sleep right now!" Squealed one of the girls.

"I know sweetie, but we must be asleep if we want to be prepared for the next spring." The mother replied.

"But momma….." The girl whined.

"No buts Jenny, now go to sleep. Don't worry, we'll be safe in here."

Knowing she was safe and sound with them in their hole, she had a very pleasant sleep.

One morning, Jenny awoke at the sounds of loud chirping outside their hole. It also awoke her brother Thumper and her mother as well, but no one else.

"Momma look! "Jenny called out. "The grass is now filled with white and sparkly stuff!"

"Ssshhhhh, we don't want to wake the others!" Thumper whispered.

"Why yes dear." The mother said. "That is snow."

"Snow?" Jenny said. "What's it like?"

"Well, it is water that freezes due to the cold." The mother explained. "When I was your age, it was very fun to play in."

 _"Fun?"_ Jenny thought. "Can we go out and play in the snow then momma?"

"Yea can we please?" Thumper asked.

"Well, I suppose it is alright." The mother accepted.

"Yay!" Thumper and Jenny cheered.

Both of them started to run out of out of the hole, until their mother called out for them.

"Thumper, Jenny!" She cried.

Both of them stopped, turned around and went back toward her.

"What did your father tell you?" The mother asked.

"About what?" Thumper said exhaling.

"About leaving while we are not watching." The mother replied.

"Oh, right." Thumper said, as he was trying to remember his father's quote. "'If you wander around somewhere, you must know where you are at. But if you don't know where, you may not be able to find your way back.'"

"That's right, so stay close to here and do not go anywhere too far, or you might get lost."

"We understand momma." Jenny said.

"Alright then, you two stay safe." The mother said, as she saw her two children running into the snow.

As the two siblings were playing with each other in the snow, they came across a large clear ground.

"Wow, what is it?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know, maybe this is something also a part of winter like the snow!" Thumper replied.

"Step on it." Jenny said.

Thumper agreed and moved towards the clear ground. He took the first step onto it, and noticed how smooth it was. He then put his other foot on it and saw nothing happened. He then took another step, but slipped and fell right on his tail. His sister cried out in laughter after his brother's failed attempt to walk on the clear ground.

"Please, that was just an accident." Thumper said.

"Try jumping into it!" Jenny cheered.

"Hey, not that bad of an idea." He said thinking.

Thumper then went on top of a near hill and started speeding down from it. He then jumped onto the clear ground and slid all the way to the other end of the clear ground.

"That was so cool!" Jenny called out.

"It so was!" Thumper shouted back. "I'm going to go see if my friend Bambi is around, I want to try and show him this and my cool jump!"

And just like that, Thumper was off to find his friend. Jenny wasn't sure what to do while she waited, she went elsewhere to see what else there was to explore in the winter. As she was hopping around, she came across the wide meadow.

 _"Wow…."_ She thought, as she was smiling to the great view. " _This is so amazing! A perfect and clear area with the entire path filled with snow."_

She was even able to see a few other critters as well, as they were nibbling on some of the grass pointing out of the snow.

" _Momma was right."_ She thought. _"This truly does feel like paradise!"_

After taking it all in, she decided to move on to try and find any other great things to see. As she was moving along further into the forest, she started to realize nothing she was hopping towards looked familiar.

"But wait, isn't this the way back?" She said to herself. "It must be around here somewhere, maybe the snow is the cause of why I don't recognize it, everything I do remember is blocked by it!"

Jenny continued to look for her family's hole, even anything that familiar to her that could lead her in the right direction, but to no avail.

"Big brother, big brother!" She called out, but no response. "Momma Poppa, anyone!"

She was starting to become scared after the continuous silence around her. She decided to continue hopping more in every direction she could think of that she assumed could lead her home, but nothing was ever seen as familiar to her. She even ran into other clear grounds, but none were the same as the one she and Thumper were just at. What's more, her brother was not in sight at and of the other clear grounds.

 _"Where am I?"_ She thought as she was shaking. " _Where is home? I knew I should have stayed near the hole_ , _Momma warned me to but I didn't listen. Why didn't I listen?"_

"Someone please, I'm lost!" She called out once more.

But still no voices were heard, mainly because most of the animals were still in hibernation.

Tears started falling out of her eyes. _"What if I never make it back?"_ She thought.

As she continued hopping throughout the forest trying to search for her family, she spotted an odd looking object in the distance. As she was moving closer to it, she saw there was blossoms inside it.

 _"Blossoms, boy am I starving!"_ She thought.

As she ran towards the blossoms, she tripped on a stick that was standing in front of her, causing the cages door close.

 _"What is this, where am I?"_ She thought.

She tried, to get out of the cage she was in, but it was no use.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" she yelled out loud.

There was still no response. Knowing that it was no use, she then laid down on the cage trying to keep herself warm until somebody would come for help.

* * *

The evening then came around and the mother started calling out to Thumper and Jenny for them to come back home.

"Thumper, Jenny, it's time to come back now!" The mother called out.

A few seconds later, thumper appeared as he was trying to keep his body above the large amount of snow on the ground.

"I'm here momma." Thumper said smiling.

"Where is your sister?" She asked.

Thumper shrugged. "I don't know. I went to go find my friend Bambi to play on that stiff water, but by the time I got back she was already gone. I thought she already came back to the hole."

The mother started to get worried. "Jenny, Jenny!" She called out, but no voice was heard. "I'm going to go look for her, Thumper you go back into the hole and try to go back to sleep."

"Yes momma."

Jenny woke up from the sound of footsteps coming near her.

"Momma, is that you?" She called out, but no response.

As the footsteps were growing closer to her, she was able to see a distant figure coming towards her. Only, this figure wasn't any kind of animal she recognized. As the figure got closer, her entire body shivered. It was man.

"Well looky who we got here Munchy!" Man said. "This one seems to be a baby rabbit." He then put his face closer to the cage to examine her. Jenny was frightened and had her back against the cage after seeing the horrible Man looking at her. "Hmm, she's female by the looks of it. I'm sure we can be able to make a mitten or two out of her, don't you think bud?"

"BARK!" Went Munchy

Man chuckled. "Well, we'll put her to sleep along with the rest of the animals later. For now, let's head on back home Munchy, I'd say today was a pretty good hunting day if you ask me."

 _"R-rest of the animals?"_ Jenny thought.

Man then picked up the cage with Jenny in it and began to walk towards the exit of the forest.

* * *

"Jenny, Jenny, Jenny!" Her mother called out.

She looked everywhere she could that she could recognize, but there was still no sign of Jenny. She assumed Jenny may have gone somewhere she didn't recognize and took a wrong turn somewhere.

"I'm going to have to go talk to friend owl, maybe he can help." She told herself.

The mother then made her way to friend Owl to see if he could assist her with finding her daughter. As she approached his tree, she could already hear him sleeping from down the tree.

"Friend owl, friend owl!" She cried.

Friend owl then popped out of his tree.

"Ooooooh, what now?" Friend owl moaned. "Oh, why Mrs. Hare, it's great to see you again, but what are you doing out here during the beginning of winter?"

"I need your help Friend owl." Mrs. Hare pleaded. "My daughter Jenny, she still hasn't come yet back after I last saw her playing in the snow by our hole. Do you think you may be able to find her?"

"Hmm, well it sure is a pretty large forest, but I will see what I can do Mrs. Hare.

Mrs. Hare sighed in relief. "Thank you very much Friend owl, I really appreciate this."

"I'll fly over to your hole to give you the news once I'm finished."

Friend owl then flapped his wings and took off into the sky. Even with his help, Mrs. Hare still feared the worst for her daughter. Especially if she were to run into Man.

Jenny wasn't sure where she was going, but wherever it was, she didn't have a good feeling about it after hearing Man say he could make a mitten or two out of her.

 _"What is a mitten?"_ She thought.

The cage she was in was then placed inside a very large object that not even she could recognize. But whatever it was, she assumed it meant bad. Everywhere she looked, there was a tall wall above her, along with other cages like the one she was in.

" _Momma, where are you? I don't want to be here, I want to go home!"_

Just then, she heard a large vroom sound coming from the object she was in. as she was in the cage, she started to see trees above her moving.

"What's going on, am I moving or is the object moving?" She wondered. "Wait a minute, I'm moving away from home!"

She tried once more to get out of the cage. But every time and way she tried to, nothing would budge.

"MOMMA, POPPA, ANYONE HELP ME!" She yelled as high as she could.

Friend owl had been searching for quite a long time now, but there was still no sign of Jenny to be found anywhere throughout the forest.

He sighed. "Well, I guess I got no choice but to call it a night."

But suddenly, as he was flying back, he heard a voice crying out in the distance. As he looked to see where the voice was coming from, he saw a very vague moving object out in the distance. Friend owl flew faster than he ever had to see what the crying voice was all about.

As he flew closer, he saw what Man would call a truck that was moving out in the distance. As he continued to hear the cries for help, he immediately knew the source of the sound was coming from the truck.

As he flew in closer to the truck, he noticed a small little rabbit inside one of the cages behind the truck. He gasped.

"Oh dear, it's Mrs. Hare's daughter, and she being taken away!"

Jenny then saw Friend owl appear in the sky as he was getting closer to the truck.

"Friend owl, is that you?" Jenny shouted.

"Yes it is sweetie!" Friend owl shouted back. "I'm gonna try and get you off of this blasted truck as best as I can!"

"But how?"

Friend owl thought about that for a moment, and then had an idea.

"I'm going to try to hook my claws onto the cage, just stay still!"

"Okay!"

Friend owl then flew in closer to the back of the truck, trying to position his feet so he could grab the cage Jenny was in. The first time he went for it, he missed. He knew he had to increase his speed in order to hook onto it at the right time. So he picked up his speed to get to it.

"Almost there and…." He mumbled. With his second try, he was able to hook onto it. "Gotcha!"

Jenny smiled. "Way to go Friend owl!" She cheered.

"Thank you dear." He replied "Now then, I'm going to try and lift this out of the truck by the side so we don't get any further as we are now."

Friend owl then flapped both of his wings to the side as hard as he could to try and get the cage off the truck. He had half of it in the air and had it hanging on the right side of the truck.

"Alright Friend owl…" He mumbled to himself. "Just a little bit more-"

"BAM!"

Friend owl was then hit in the head by one of the trees to the side passing by.

"NO!" Jenny shouted, as she saw Friend owl falling to the ground.

Friend owl could only hear Jenny's last cries for him, after closing his eyes from being knocked unconscious.

"FRIEND OWWWwwwwl….."

* * *

Ten minutes later, he awoke.

"Oooooohhh, my head." He moaned.

After he was able to stand back up, he gasped remembering what happened before he was knocked unconscious. He flew high into the sky looking in every direction, as he was trying to spot the truck that had Jenny trapped in it. However, every way he looked into the farthest sight, there was still no sign of the truck

"JENNY, JENNY!" He called out, but no reply.

Sadly, he knew she was nowhere in sight. He sighed and then decided to fly back, knowing that it would be impossible to find her now that she was far, far away from the forest by now. He definitely knew it was going to be hard the break the truth to her mother and the rest of her family.

By the time he returned to Mrs. Hare's hole, it was already night time.

"Mrs. Hare?" He called out, sticking his head into the hole.

"Coming Friend Owl, I will just be a second!" Mrs. Hare called out.

Mrs. Hare then came out of the hole.

"Ah, Friend owl." She said. "Well, have you been able to find little Jenny?"

Friend owl knew there was no other way in saying it, so he simply said it.

"She's gone Mrs. Hare." He said silently.

Mrs. Hare's eyes widened. "Friend owl…. Are you telling me my daughter is…. Dead?" She asked nervously. "Please don't tell me Man got to her, was it an accident?!"

Friend owl shook his head. "She's just gone."

* * *

 **I've always loved the works of animation, especially the classics like Bambi. Even though those movies have been around for like sixty to seventy years, it really feels like those movies just never get old! One time when I rewatched Bambi and Bambi II, I noticed something that was a bit different between the two. In the first movie Thumper has five sisters, but in Bambi II, I learned that number went down to four sisters without any knowledge of what happened to the fifth one.**

 **So ladies and gentlemen, old and new readers of this story, welcome to my second story, The Missing One. Just to be clear, I do not own any of these characters besides the ones that I make up, it all belongs to Disney, the end. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!**


	2. Home Is Lost

**Chapter 2: Home Is Lost**

She couldn't stop crying for help. But every time she did, her hopes for someone saving her grew shorter and shorter.

"Cut it out kid, I'm trying to sleep!" Shouted a voice.

Jenny wasn't sure where it came from, until she saw movement coming from a covered up cage with a hole in the blanket.

"W-who was that?" Jenny asked.

"A ghost." The voice replied sarcastically.

"A ghost?!" Jenny shrieked.

The voice laughed. "You sure are gullible kid. Now try to get some rest, you have been crying for help for at least two hours now.

"Is that how long it's been?" Jenny asked herself.

"Listen kid I don't know if you've noticed, but the sky is dark which means it's time to be sleeping." The voice stated.

"But I've never slept without my family before, what if I have a nightmare?"

"Not my problem."

"But then I'll be awake the entire night! And with no one to comfort me, I could be shrieking all night!"

 _"_ _Well I guess it is my problem now."_ The voice thought.

"Okay how about this kid, if you have a nightmare, you can tell me about it and I can calm you down." The voice explained. "Does that sound good?"

Jenny thought about it. "Well, I guess so."

"Good." The voice said satisfyingly. "Now try and get some sleep."

Jenny then laid down on the cage she was in and tried to go to sleep. But it was hard to when she wasn't very comfortable laying down on the cage. She tried to picture herself with her and her family in the soft and warm hole they would always sleep in, but that only made her more upset with Jenny knowing her family wasn't here.

"Hey mister." Jenny asked.

The voice sighed. "Yes?"

"What's your name?"

The voice rolled his eyes. "Drew."

"Oh, okay." Jenny said "Hey Drew."

Drew moaned in frustration. _"Is it this hard for a kid to just get a little bit of sleep?"_ He thought.

"What is it now?" Drew mentioned.

"I was just wondering, do you know where we're going?"

Drew would have answered it if he wanted to, but not even he knew where they were going. However, he knew that once you get captured by Man, you never return. But even though he knew that, he did want to tell the kid since he knew that would just make her more paranoid.

"I don't know kid, everything we're seeing right now is just as new to you as it is to me."

"But then…. Why would we be going somewhere if we don't even know?"

"It's how Man would work sometimes kid-"

"Um it's Jenny actually?"

"Whatever, _Jenny._ " Drew said still annoyed. "He goes to where we live and takes animals away from there, living or-" He paused, knowing he didn't want to frighten Jenny any more than she was already.

"Or what Drew?"

"U-uh, living or…. Just living elsewhere, it doesn't matter really." Drew said hesitantly. "Anyways Jenny is it, just try to go to sleep cause you'll be a lot more relaxed that way."

Jenny dropped her eyes to the floor. "Okay…."

After a while of non-stop talking, she was finally able to keep her eyes closed for the night.

* * *

 _"_ _Big brother…. Big brother…."_ Jenny called out. She then spotted her big brother on a large hill in the vast and beautiful sights of the forest. " _There you are big brother!_ " She said as she approached the rabbit. _"I've been looking all over for you!"_

Her big brother Thumper turned around as he looked oddly unhappy at her.

 _"_ _Big brother, what's wrong?"_ Jenny asked.

 _"Oh yes, I remember you."_ Thumper said. _"The forgotten one of our family, the one we didn't care about if she one day goes missing from us_ all."

" _Big brother, what are you talking about?"_ Jenny asked. _"I've been here this whole time, and I know I can be able to come back to you all safely I promise! You're all my family and my family are the ones I want to be with."_

 _"_ _We're never going to find you Jenny, never."_ Thumper said. _"You'll just be all alone without momma, poppa, Tessie, Ria, Daisy, Trixie, and me."_

" _Big brother…."_ Jenny said, as tears started falling out of her eyes. " _How could you even say that?!"_

 _"think about it when one day you get into trouble, it's for your own good."_

Just then, the sky started to turn dark as clouds were hovering above them with flashes of lightning coming out of it.

"FLASH!" Went a bolt of lightning.

Jenny looked back to see Thumper after taking a look at the large bolts of lightning appearing above her in the sky, only to look down seeing the hill and realizing nothing else.

 _"_ _Big brother!"_ Jenny called out panicking, as he had suddenly disappeared. " _Big brother where did you go!? Big BROTHER!"_

She continued to shout until a large lightning bolt came down from the sky and sky and struck her.

 _"FLASH!"_

* * *

November 9th, 1950

She gasped for air after waking up from her sleep. She noticed it was day, and that she was still in the cage which was still in the truck. But what caught her attention even more was her surroundings.

"Drew, Drew!" Jenny shouted.

" _Hmm_ …." Drew mumbled as he was still waking up from his supposedly peaceful sleep. "Oh, is it morning already?"

"Where are we, those large objects sure don't look like trees!"

"Have you forgotten already Jenny?" Drew asked. "There's a blanket covering my cage so I can't see a thing!"

"Oh, right." Jenny realized, still looking at all the large objects they were passing by. "I wonder what those are… they sure are tall, maybe even taller than some trees!"

Another hour of driving went by and Just then, a figure at what appeared to be Man walked behind the truck and approached the cages. He then took the covers off of Drew's and for the first time, Jenny saw his actual body and he turned out to also be a rabbit as well with brown fur.

"Wait, you look familiar…." Jenny said.

"Well I've been to loads of areas around your forest so you have probably seen my face before at least once."

"Wait, that's it!" Jenny shouted remembering. "You were one of the rabbits who went to see the new born prince! I remember saying hi to you when we came across each other as we were leaving."

"It does ring a bell from saying hi to somebody that day, but my memory is still a little faded from around then." Drew claimed. "Sorry to tell you that, but it's the bad part grown ups have to adapt to overtime."

Man then picked up both the cages Jenny and Drew were in and started carrying them inside one of the large strange looking objects, where they found a floor full of hay everywhere along with a few other animals inside cages.

They were then taken out of their cages, but were both put in a new one by the ground where many other rabbits currently were as well.

"What…. What is this place?" Jenny asked, panting while looking everywhere around her surroundings from the door to the gate she and Drew were locked in.

"Maybe we're just considered pets by Man and is keeping us locked in here for his own little entertainment." Drew replied in a serious tone.

"But then, what are all those things on that wall?" Jenny asked, pointing to it.

Drew took a look at it, only to see lots of shiny and sharp things hanging on the wall. He knew in his gut, this wasn't a good sign.

"I'm not quite sure, but they look to be pretty dangerous to me."

Jenny looked around the cage to see if there was a way out but sure enough, there wasn't. All she could see was a few glimpse of light shining from outside on the cracks of the wood. But she was glad there was some dirt and hay to sleep on and to try and keep her comfortable while inside the barn.

"So, then what do we do now Drew?"

"Why are you asking me?" Drew asked. "I may look like I know a lot of things Jenny, but I'm not the one who brought us far, far and I mean _far_ away from our homes."

"Oh, right." Jenny said. "Do you still see any possible way to get out of here though?"

"No, not that I can see right now."

"So, then what _do_ we do now?"

"Nothing really."

"Nothing?!" Jenny shouted. "How are we supposed to get back to the forest without doing anything?! My family is probably worried right this second where I am and I'm not going to do nothing until I get back!"

"You sure are a feisty one, I'll give you that Jen." Drew said. "But no matter what, we're stuck in here for the time being so it's best if we just get some rest for the time being."

"But drew-!"

"Jenny, I hate what's happening to us right now as much as you do trust me on that, but there will be times in your life when you know there is nothing you can do about it, and this is one of those times."

Jenny was still too stubborn to accept the truth. "B-but can't we just-"

"ENOUGH JENNY." Drew said loudly.

Jenny's eyes widened. She eventually gave up on trying to convince Drew and sat by the corner of the cage. He then started to cry not because of how Drew was acting towards her, but because of what he said was probably the truth."

* * *

November 11th, 1950

Two days have passed and Jenny and Drew have still been locked up in the cage Man had put them in inside the barn. Jenny and Drew were fed proper food and given water, but it still didn't feel like paradise to them at all. Jenny tried to dig a hole under the dirt for hours to possibly fit under the minorly broken log behind their wooden cage, but could only get a couple of inches due to the cold weather causing the dirt to become stale. Eventually, she just laid in the corner waiting until something happens.

"Hey Drew?" Jenny asked.

"What is it?" Drew asked, as he was getting up from trying to sleep.

"Don't _you_ have a family to go back to too?"

Drew was silent for a moment before speaking. "Yes, I do."

"Oh." Jenny said. "I come from a very big family of my own. there's my mom and dad, my sisters Tessie, Ria, Daisy, and Trixie, and our older brother Thumper. what about you?"

Drew didn't quite understand why she wanted to know all this information, but he assumed it must have been a way of trying to calm herself down. "Well, there's my mate, my three boys and my three girls."

"Wow, yours really is bigger than mine, cool!" Jenny exclaimed.

Drew laughed. "Yep, we were only want to have three of them at the maximum, but I suppose life works in all different shapes and forms sometimes."

"Well um, do you ever still miss them now after Man took you?"

Drew put his head up and glared at Jenny. "What kind of a question is that Jenny?"

"Well, I was just wondering…"

"Well why would you be wondering something silly like that?" Drew asked. "Of course I miss them."

"And I believe you, I'm not saying that it's just…" Jenny said hesitating. "You don't seem to be well… worried or concerned about them in any way."

Drew chuckled. "That's because adults aren't as big cry-babies as children such as yourself are."

"Hey!" Jenny yelled back. "I'm not a cry baby!"

"Yea?" Drew said. "Well you sure as heck have been acting like one."

"Hmph!" Jenny said, as she began walking over to the small hole in the wall.

Drew however had no idea what she was up to, not that he ever understood her in the first place. "Um Jen, what are you doing?"

"I'm digging my way out of here, it's what me and my brother and sisters have been given to do with the snow as a chore when spring begins to near."

"This isn't like your average hill in a tree Jenny." Drew said. "There are no chores or games to think about here, it's only a cage we're forced to stay inside."

Jenny paused for a moment before responding. "Well, I guess that just means I'll have to try harder then."

Just then, they heard the sounds of the barn door opening, as the figure walking by looked similar enough to be Man from the woods Jenny saw, only without the coat had had on him. Drew noticed him walking towards some sharp looking objects on the wall. Instinctively he rushed to the very back of the cage as Man had taken one of the objects off the hook. Drew's heart began to pace faster and faster, as Man began walking closer to his cage.

"Drew, what's wrong?" She asked with a confused face, as she turned around to see what he was looking at.

Man was now literally right in front of their cage, as Drew had begun to think the worst for him and Jenny. But a couple moments later, he realized Man was just getting some cleaning wear for his sharp objects from the wall of tools they were most likely under.

 _"_ _We don't have much time…"_ Drew thought. "Jenny, how much digging did you say you were able to do by the wall?"

"Um, I think just a couple more centimetres and I'll be able to squeeze through."

"Well let me help you out then, because I think this is our only option now if we want to get out of here al-" Drew paused himself, as he realized now wasn't the best time to make Jenny feel scared if he wanted her help with the digging.

"Get out of here, _what_?"

"I-it's nothing, just help me with the digging here please, and start shoveling it at a faster pace if you please."

Both rabbits began digging at a much faster pace now, as Drew looked back at Man every moment or less to see his progress of where he was at with his _preperations._ Minutes had now passed and it only got Drew to rush what they were doing faster and faster.

"Okay, see if you can get under."

"Okay." Jenny said, as she bent down and tried to crawl through the hole they made hoping for it to be big enough. She pulled as hard as she could to make it out, but she seemed to have underestimated how small the hole they made was. "I can't fit my waist through Drew!"

 _"_ _Uh oh, what should I do?"_ Drew thought, as he then came up with an idea. _"Oh boy, Jenny's not going to like this…"_

"Drew, what should I do?!" Jenny shouted, as she began to panic.

"I'm going to need you to stay still Jenny, not one tiny bit of movement from you." Drew said, as Jenny tried to stay perfectly still for him.

Drew then charged right towards Jenny hoping to give it enough force to shove the rest of her body out the hole.

 _"_ _SHOVE!"_

Jenny went flying out of the hole and fell flat on the snow. Once she recovered, she ran back over to the hole to see if drew could get out. "Drew, come on it's your turn!"

Sadly for Drew, he knew right from the start it wasn't possible to get through it. "I can't fit in that hole Jenny." He said. "seeing as how I'm nearly two times your size and you had troubles, you're going to have to make a run for it before I can figure our another way out of here in time."

"What, but what about you?!" Jenny exclaimed.

"I'll be fine, it's risky but I've still got another idea for myself." Drew claimed. "Now go, get out of here into the forest before Man spots you!"

"B-but Drew I can't leave you-"

"GO!" He shouted.

Jenny still wasn't willing to leave him, worrying about his safety but as soon as she saw the tall and dark shadow of Man walking towards the cage, she bolted out of there and into the nearby forest.

"Alright, let's see who we got first up today." Man said to himself, as he bent down and unlocked the cage Drew was in and opened it.

He then reached for Drew to pick him up and set him up at the nearby table, but something ended up catching him by surprise instead.

 _"_ _KICK!"_

 _"_ _GYAAAAAAUGGGHHH!"_ Man shrieked after having gotten his arm kicked by Drew hard enough to nearly breaking his hand. "SWEET MOTHER OF KAHOOTIN NANNY THAT HURT!"

But before he could realize it, Drew had already jumped out of the cage and sprinted out the barn door. Man noticed it just in time and stormed out the barn trying to chase him.

"COME BACK HERE YA FILTHY CASH IN RODENT!" Man continued to shout. "I'M GONNA MAKE YOU REGRET WHAT YOU JUST PULLED ON ME!"

After a few more moments of trying to catch Drew, Man eventually came to his senses and realized the rabbit was too fast for him. But just because Drew was running faster didn't mean Man had lost his spirit _just yet._ He then decided to walk back to his house temporarily, causing Drew to assume he had given up.

 _"_ _Thank god he gave up…"_ Drew thought, as he had reached the tip of the forest while still sprinting as fast as his feet could go. _"Now where in cannon could that bunny girl have shot herself off to?"_ He wondered, as he began to walk further into the forest.

Meanwhile with Man, he was placing a few bandages over his hand hoping it could heal up his hand well enough to shoot. He then loaded his rifle up with ammunition, and slowly began walking to the nearest forest.

 _"_ _Time to go hunting…"_ Man thought.

* * *

 **Next time: Chapter 3, Unwelcomed Guests**


	3. Unwelcomed Guests

**Chapter 3: Unwelcomed Guests**

"Jenny, Jenny!" Drew called out, as he was continuing onward and deeper into the forest after he and Jenny got separated back at the barn. _"Okay Drew, if you were a little rabbit girl rushing to escape into the only forest near here, where would be the first place I'd go?"_ He thought.

He thought it would be easier to find her with all the snow on the ground and leaves on the trees not shadowing any areas, yet still the tracks were getting colder every step he took further into the forest. There were some other critters in the forest near him he hoped would lead him in the right direction, but so far every time he called out for help by any of them it would always make them run off or fly away.

 _"_ _She couldn't have run too far, she's been with someone her entire life and not once has she been left on her own by the sounds of it."_ Drew thought. _"It wouldn't be like her to run off any further without waiting for me at the very least."_

After another ten minutes of searching through the forest and continuously calling out for her name, he assumed Jenny had to have been long gone by now. He sighed as he took a seat in the snow at a nearby tree after nearly giving up on his search

"What am I doing?" Drew asked himself. "I should just leave, it's not like my responsibility to watch over that little girl. Besides, I'm sure this is exactly what she wants when it comes to the young and them playing all day in in the snow, with their fathers to watch them play and look after them…. And I'm talking to myself again." He said, while trying not to bring back bad thoughts.

But just then, out of nowhere he began hearing sudden steps in the distance, steps of sounds in which he recognized all too well. Drew began to stay cautious now as he slowly took a peak on the other side of the tree and hope it wasn't what he thought it was. But sure enough he regretted doing so as he immediately recognized the shape of that animal.

" _Man."_ Drew mumbled to himself.

He faced back around trying to stay as quiet as possible hoping he would be able to sneak past him when the time was right. The only problem was that it sounded like he was slowly coming closer to where Drew was. It was already too late for him to move from behind that tree, as one more step from where he was would instantly give away his position.

 _"_ _He's getting closer, what should I do?"_ Drew thought, as he began to panic.

Man's steps seemed to be less quiet than before, having Drew assume he knew he was close by, most likely because of the footprints Drew made, in which he followed leading him into the forest. Then all of a sudden, everything went silent. Drew couldn't hear a single step nor breathe from Man anywhere close by. But just as he was about to take another poke with his head on the other side to make sure the coast was clear, he realized something.

 _"_ _Hold on, Man was following my tracks to get in here, and aside from Jenny I'm the only other rabbit in the forest who's been making tracks through here."_ Drew thought. _"But wait, that doesn't make any sense because I never saw any other rabbit tracks in the forest. If that's true and if Man has been in fact following my trail this entire time, hearing him just now means he must be aware of where I'm…."_

 _"_ _GASP!"_

Drew gasped as he instantly bolted his way out of the tree he was hiding behind.

 _"_ _BANG, BANG!"_

Shots were being fired in every direction towards Drew, as he continued sprinting and maneuvering his way through the forest while jumping and ducking as fast as he could for the bullets coming his way. But Man was right on his trail following every step he took until he caught up to the rabbit.

 _"_ _I got you now you pesky little rabbit…"_ Man murmured, as he took a steady aim at Drew with his rifle. _"This outta show you not to take advantage of my hand when I'm reachin for ya…"_

 _"_ _BANG! HIT!"_

"GEAAUUGHH!" Drew howled, as he dropped to the ground with the bullet grazing his left leg.

"DARN!" Man shouted. "If only that troublesome rabbit hadn't kicked my shooting hand hard enough, it'd be a no brainer of gettin a bullseye on him!"

Drew would've tried to put pressure on it if he could, but there was no time to do so as he could already hear Man's footsteps nearing his way. He limped as fast as he could until his loud thundering steps were getting closer and closer by the second. " _No…._ No, no, no, no, not today!" He shouted at himself, as he was nearing the entrance of the forest in which he originally came from. Running out of options, he once again hid by the nearest tree he was closest to and rested behind it hoping to not be noticed.

He tried not to make any sounds, but it was not an easy task as he sat back on the tree while trying to put pressure on his injured leg. But just as he feared, the steps of Man were not going away more so as it sounded like it was still nearing towards him. This time there was nowhere for him to go because one more step and it would be the end of him as he knew it.

 _"_ _Where should I go, where should I go?"_ Drew thought, as Man was coming closer to him. Sadly for him, he was already giving in to what was he knew was about to happen. _"…. I'm sorry for what happened to you Henry."_

Man was now only a couple steps away from the tree, as he held up his rifle prepare to shoot at the helpless rabbit hiding behind it. "GOTCHA!" He shouted, stepping behind the tree. But to his surprise, there was nothing there. "What the…. No, no that's impossible I was following his drag marks all the way to here!"

He took a quick scope around everywhere he could look close to where he was, but there was no other sign of the rabbit, nor his trail to be seen. And to make his luck go even further down the hill, the snow weather outside had begun to come down even harder, making it now impossible for him to find any other nearby traces.

"DAG NAM IT!" He shouted, throwing his rifle on the ground in anger. But as much as he hated it, he still understood the fact that he lost him. He sighed as he picked up his rifle and began walking back to his house. "Ah who cares, I didn't need that rabbit in the first place. It's a shame I couldn't end up finding that other rabbit I shot before I captured him. Besides, I still need to feed Munchy his breakfast. Munchy…. Maybe I should've brought him along for the ride, even if it may have been a little messier than intended to capture him."

* * *

November 12th, 1950, the next day

It was all a blur for Drew once he had awoken. All he could make out from his surroundings was that he was inside a large, and somewhat dark room. When he tried making his way onto his feet, his leg was still sore due to the graze of the bullet which Man had shot at him. Then all of a sudden, a small figure from the looks of what seemed to be a rabbit was approaching him.

 _"_ _H-Henry?"_ Drew murmured, still trying to refocus his eyesight onto the rabbit. Once he regained his full eyesight back, he immediately recognized the rabbit in front of him.

"Drew, Drew are you alright?" The rabbit in front of him asked.

"W-wait a minute, Jenny?" Drew asked back, focusing more on his sight.

"Yea it's me, you remember!" Jenny cried. "So how are you feeling?"

"Um, a little sore from my leg but nothing that time won't be able to fix." Drew replied. "And Jenny, if you don't mind me asking, but what exactly happened to me, and where are we?"

"You're in our home, and yes you're welcome." A voice beside him said.

"Oh um…" Drew said, feeling a little bit awkward with the other rabbit in front of him. "I apologize sir if I may have-"

"It's Ronald." The rabbit informed.

"Alright then Ronald like I was saying, I apologize if myself or Jenny here by the looks of it may have caused you to wake up from your hibernation."

"Oh never mind that, I've always woken up every few days or so to make sure my mate and the little ones are in good shape."

"Pardon me then, I didn't realize you had a family in here."

"Six of them." Another voice coming from another room in the hole said. "Precious and handsome little kids they all are. And not need for any pardoning, how could you have known you ended up here if you had already gone unconscious before we brought you in?"

"Ah yes, this is my beloved Missy." Ronald said, introducing Drew and Jenny to his mate. "She should also be the one watching over the boys right now to make sure none of them go crazy enough to wake up the entire forest."

"Oh hush Ronny, it's not like leaving them alone for five minutes is going to cause utter chaos to us all." Missy said. "So who's the father and daughter you brought inside our home and for what reason?"

"Oh no, no, no, you got the wrong idea there Missy." Drew said chuckling. "Myself and Jenny only became acquainted with each other a few days ago."

"Hmm if that's true, then why did both of you end up coming here at separate times instead of together?" Ronald asked.

"Well how should I put this shortly…" Drew wondered. "You see, we were both captured by Man in a place known to many as Frittle Forest, and we were unaware of the hunting grounds taking place nearby. The next day we were still driving and soon enough put in a building of some sort with hay everywhere and dangerous looking weapons, and both of us were kept in smaller cages attached to the wall."

"I believe the word you're looking for is barn." Ronald stated. "Bunch of unwelcomed guests came in when I was a kid and built it right in front of the meadow my family would always eat at and have fun to play in long lines of grass. It may not have been this barn in particular, but the point is it's definitely an inconvenience."

"It doesn't really matter about the name, even if there's an unfortunate meaning to it." Drew said. "Now luckily the wall in front of us was damaged easy enough to get through if we dug hard enough. But with the short span of time we had to react, I could only and barely get Jenny out without Man noticing before he approached our cage."

"That's when we heard the cries for help approaching our hole." Missy said.

"It's also why you never saw any of my footsteps going into the forest, because luckily Mr. Ronald and Mrs. Missy heard me at their tree in front of the entrance to the forest, and called me to hurry inside the hole before Man noticed them placing the leafs and sticks to cover it." Jenny explained.

"I guess I wasn't thinking hard enough during that time, mostly because I was being chased by Man." Drew admitted. "Now furthermore, with Jenny supposedly gone and Man approaching my cage, I had to act fast and so I was at the very end of the cage waiting for him to reach his arm out to retrieve me. Once he was close to touching me, I kicked his arm hard enough for him to get a reaction out of, and used that short window to my advantage by escaping from the open front entrance of the _'barn'."_

"Okay but even if you had escaped from him by that time, why didn't we hear your cries for Jenny once you ran towards here?" Missy asked.

"It was instinctive, I ran as fast as I could further into the forest where you couldn't have heard me to make sure Man wasn't following me, and that I would be able to look for her without any interruptions." Drew continued. "But I was careless…. At that time I never considered the thought that Man could still be able to track me down using the footsteps I made into the forest."

"You shouldn't have even considered it quite frankly." Ronald said. "This forest's property is owned by a town not too far from here, and it restricts creatures like Man to be hunting on these grounds."

"But wait, then why did Man try to hunt Drew if he wasn't allowed to hunt here in the first place?" Jenny asked.

"It sounds to me like he was a little too infuriated with the rabbit who injured him that he didn't want to play by the rules." Ronald assumed.

"I obviously ran from him after I realized he was tracking me down, but he got lucky enough to graze me with one of his bullets at my leg." Drew said. "Then soon after I hid behind one of the trees near the entrance of the forest and before I knew it, everything I saw around me went blank as if I thought I had already died."

"Must have been because your adrenaline was too high, causing you to faint." Ronald informed. "And you would've been killed if you hadn't taken a rest at the exact tree we were under with Jenny. Luckily we heard the gunshots outside which then brought us to seeing you right beside the hole. We dragged you in fast enough so Man couldn't see, and mixed up the snow a bit to make sure he wouldn't be checking anywhere directly in front of the tree."

"Well I thank you for that then, you may have just saved my life." Drew said.

"Oh my big brave guy, how thoughtful of you to save these two in need of help." Missy said, while hugging Ronald.

" _Well,_ I do what I can." Ronald said, blushing a little.

"So what now?" Jenny asked.

"Well sweetie that depends, how's your leg looking there, Drew was it?" Ronald asked.

"It's not looking too good at the moment, the graze on my leg still left a hard scratch on me." Drew informed. "Maybe I could get it walking again in a few days if I'm able to heal fast enough."

"A few days you say?" Ronald asked. "I would've expected an answer like a month, or possibly more."

"I just feel like you and your mate have already exceeded in assisting us that it would feel much like a burden if we stayed any longer." Drew replied. "I think it would even be best if we just left the next day quite frankly."

"Nonsense!" Ronald shouted. "We have plenty of room in our home if you want. And to be honest, our boys would usually hog up all the food anyways, so I'm sure they can do well without a few weeds or two. Besides, have you seen the severity of the scratch mark on your leg and the temperature outside? You are in no shape to travel anywhere else for the time being, at least until it begins tog get warmer."

"You don't have to worry about me Ronald, I can manage on my own until I'm well enough to walk." Drew assured.

"What about me?" Jenny asked.

"What about you Jenny?" Drew replied with a question. "I'm not capable enough of taking you along, it would be best if you stayed here with this family until winter time ends."

" _What_ , no way!" Jenny shrieked. "I have a family I need to get home to as well, just like you!"

"I understand, but for your safety it's what I would prefer doing." Drew said. "If you come with me, it will only slow the both of us down. Then when the cold begins to come into the world, I may not even be able to make it."

Jenny stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about what she should do. "…Well I don't care." She said. "I would rather go with you and have only the slightest bit of chance at seeing my family, than be somewhere I know nothing of, and never getting to see any of my family ever again."

Drew laughed. "I appreciate your confidence Jenny, but the answer is still no. I don't want to be responsible for anoth- sorry, I meant the burden of a little girl whose life I may easily put in the eyes of danger or in worst case scenarios."

"Drew, may I have a word with you in private for a moment?" Ronald requested. "Missy, why don't you take Jenny outside and show her that thing we dug up during early hibernation Man would refer to as a _ball?_ "

Missy giggled in delight. "I'd be happy to. Jenny come with me, I think the bucks still need to feel cozy with the little predicament they're under currently."

Jenny made a childish moan. "Okay." She said, as she and Missy soon after walked outside the tree leaving Drew and Ronald to talk.

"She's just a bunny Drew." Ronald said in a serious tone.

"I'm aware about that, but I've dealt with taking care of bunnies in the past, and I'm not willing to pull through what I've witnessed ever again."

 _"_ _Pull through?"_ Ronald echoed. "They're your children! My bunnies mean the _world_ to me, and I always end up putting them before myself. Any father who wouldn't, they may as well be left out into the cold."

"She's _not_ my daughter Ronald, you hear me?" Drew stated. "You can get somebody else, or even another rabbit who would care more than I once the first day of spring shines through the forest, but I'm not taking the burden of losing someone so young and energetic to creatures and beasts like Man."

"How heartless are you?" Ronald asked, shocked to what Drew was stating. "She's just a little girl who wants to be back home with her real family."

"So do I, but it sure doesn't seem like life is always supposed to go the way we want it." Drew scolded. "Besides, home could be days, months or even years for all I know, and I don't believe that girl would be able to instantly take in all of the surroundings as if it's normal… you of all rabbits should know that."

"Well I'm sorry to tell you, but I can't take her back, especially not on my own." Ronald declined. "I didn't want to say this in front of Jenny, or even my mate for that matter when I said we had room, but we can't keep Jenny for very long. To be honest, we're up to capacity within this hole already, and my kids are still complaining about not having enough food to eat for the winter. Missy doesn't know much about that, but it would break her heart if I told her."

"That's rubbish, it should be easy for you to find her a new family, even for a small and open forest like this."

"There is no other family." Ronald informed. "We're the only rabbit family who lives within this forest, and no other species here are willing to keep animals like Jenny within their homes."

"Oh really, then where did you originally come from?"

"Does that really matter?"

"It does when I hear about someone's inability to find another home for someone in need."

"Alright well It wasn't easy to move to, but we came from a forest only a few miles east from here." Ronald answered. "It was when Missy was still carrying the cubs in her during spring time. Our home before was nice and filled with plenty of greens to eat, but it soon came to our attention about how high of a risk we were at while staying there because of the carnivore population."

"A _carnivore?"_ Drew echoed, wondering what that word meant.

"Oh, it's just a word I used to hear a lot when describing the animals whose main diet is on other animals." Ronald explained. "Long story short, their population had begun to increase its numbers and animals like us had begun to decrease in the population wildly enough that sooner or later, stepping a toe outside would be a cautious decision for us."

"So you didn't want your family to grow up in a life of terror, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"If it's enough for you to believe in what I'm telling you, then certainly."

"Well there doesn't seem to be enough terror here for seven rabbits to be biting each other for greens or blossoms."

"Funny, says the rabbit who lead terror into our forest."

Drew glared towards Ronald for a split second before shrugging it off. "I don't care, me not rising up to the challenge doesn't consider myself as a coward, because a coward is someone who thinks they don't have what it takes to step up."

"How is that any different from your perspective of Jenny then?"

"Because I…" Drew said, still trying to choose his words from his mind.

"Because you what?" Ronald wondered.

"I wanted to…" Drew said, continuing to hesitate. "…You know what, it doesn't matter anyways. As I've said before, it is too dangerous for a little girl like Jenny to be moving out there in the freezing snow. It's better if she doesn't follow me while I try to look for another hole closer to my forest to wait out the winter."

"And once the snow clears, _then_ what do you expect her to do?"

Drew thought about it for a moment. "…She can make her own choices."

"Or maybe you could make choices of your own." Ronald suggested. "The way I see it, you have two options. One, you take Jenny with you and watch over her, have a companion with you throughout the return home instead of acting like you can take care of yourself, and maybe this could be something for you to be remembered by, _shoot_ even stories about what you did."

"This isn't a story though Ronald, it's danger." Drew commented. "…So what's option two?"

"She goes alone."

Drew's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Did you not hear a single words of danger which I've been telling you this entire time?"

"Oh I heard you loud and clear, but it's not like I can do anything about it for very long."

"You'll be kicking her out of the forest and into the cold, it's clear you'll be doing something about it!" Drew shouted.

"First of all, the spring time is the most appropriate time for a rabbit to leave the hole in any case." Ronald stated. "And second, it won't be me forcing her to leave, it's going to be herself."

 _"_ _What?"_ Drew asked with a surprised face. "She's scared of being left alone, she would never do that!"

"Not unless she was desperate enough to go back home to her family, which is something even I won't be able to stop her from doing." Ronald said deeply. "Sometimes it's animal nature to stay close to home for many younglings, but nobody's ever heard of one being miles away from them. Why do you think she's had non-stop nightmares about those thoughts?"

"…." Drew never spoke, while at the same time recalling some of the sudden wake up calls during the night from Jenny while they were being driven away.

"Now then, I think it's best if the both of you stay here for more than a few days if you ask me." Ronald brought up. "Walking a thousand steps at the very least could either make the both of you freeze to a high level, or worse, an easy sighting for any carnivores lurking out there within the shadows."

"As I've said, I can manage just fine."

"Seeing as how you're still being arrogant about it, let me tell you what, how about I make you a deal?" Drew recommended.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll find enough food through the forest for both you and Jenny until your leg has healed up nice and perfectly, and as it begins to get warmer."

Drew cocked an eyebrow. "You'll give us enough food to last basically the entire winter, even though you just told me you didn't have enough to share?"

Ronald nodded "There's always a few greens poking around somewhere within the snow or by the trees, the only problem is knowing where you're poking. But I'm willing to risk it either way for the two of you, just as a sign of gratitude you can say."

"This sounds all too good to be true if you ask me."

"On normal circumstances I couldn't agree more, but lucky for you this isn't one of them."

"Alright, what's the catch?"

" _The catch_ is when you leave, you're taking Jenny with you." Ronald replied.

 _"_ _As figured."_ Drew thought, turning his back from Ronald's.

"You know it yourself Drew, it _is_ a safe bet to take."

"Since when did you become such a worrier for a kid who's not even yours?"

"It's called having a heart, you should try it sometime." Ronald shot back. "So what's it going to be?"

Drew shook his head. "I don't feel like answering to something I wouldn't even consider an op-"

"You know what I changed my mind, if you don't agree to take her, then you can leave right now." Ronald ordered, leaving Drew with another stunned expression. "And consider this the last I'm going to ask you this question. _What's it going to be?"_

* * *

 **Next time: Chapter 4, Moving Out**


End file.
